Indian Buddhist Delegation Visited the Chinese Buddhist Association

On the morning of January 6th 2018, a delegation of 10 led by Mrs. Shaladah Bardall, wife of the Minister for Social Justice and Relief of Maharashtra State of India, and Mr. Gehin Malik, the Vice Chairman of Hokkaido Multi-Functional Education Organization, paid a visit to the BAC.

On the morning of January 6th 2018, a delegation of 10 led by Mrs. Shaladah Bardall, wife of the Minister for Social Justice and Relief of Maharashtra State of India, and Mr. Gehin Malik, the Vice Chairman of Hokkaido Multi-Functional Education Organization, paid a visit to the BAC. The Vice President of the BAC Ven. Master Yanjue, together with the Secretary-General Liu Wei warmly welcomed the guests at Huaiyuan Hall,Guangji Temple.

On behalf of the President Ven. Master Xuecheng and the BAC, the Venerable and the Secretary General showed warm welcome and sincere wishes to Mrs. Shaladah Bardall, Vice Chairman Malik, and the rest of the delegation team. Meanwhile, as informed that Minister Bardall could not come to visit this time due to busy schedules, the Venerable and the Secretary General also sent their kindly regards and best wishes to Minister Bardall.

The Vice president, Ven. Master Yanjue said India and China have a long history on Buddhism exchanges. After the introduction of Buddism from India to China, it has been characterized with Chinese elements after the millennium-long development, and made a great contribution to China’s philosophical civilization, literature art, and religious culture. The unique Chinese style Buddhism has also been introduced to many other countries and regions such as South Korea, North Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, etc.. Now China is actively promoting the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, and India is also an important country along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. With the steady development of the Belt and Road Initiative, China and India will not only have great rooms for cooperation in the fields of economy, trade and culture, but also have some good opportunities on religious exchanges, and we hope we will have a chance in the future to cooperate more on Buddhism.

The Vice President also said that we greatly appreciate the efforts and contributions that Minister Bardall has made for India’s Buddhism, culture and education, social welfare and China-India relations. We look forward to seeing the vast majority of people in India learning from them and actively contribute to India's social welfare and Buddhism, and hope that everyone in India will become friendly envoys to the relation between the two countries, and Buddhists in China and India will make positive contributions to the two countries’ prosperity, strength, friendship, social harmony, the happiness of people, ever-lasting Buddhism friendship, and the world peace. Finally, he wished the delegation and their associates a complete success in their visit to China and wished Malpins social harmony and prosperity.

Secretary-General Mr. Liu Wei said India is a country that many people are yearning for, and Chinese Buddhists and Chinese people have a special friendship with India. India and China have had a long history of interaction and exchange since long before, evidenced by the story of Ven. Master Xuan Zang's journey to the West seeking for Dharma, and the journey of two Indian eminent monks， Kassemoto and Zhu Falan， traveling to China. President Xi Jinping also mentioned during his state visit to India that 'Buddhism originated in the West, and the Dharma spreads to the East'. The Secretary-General also introduced to the delegation the current development of Chinese Buddhist scriptures, Buddhist monasteries, Buddhist institutions, and Buddhism in three major languages in China. Moreover, he mentioned about Chinese Buddhist culture merging with traditional Chinese culture, and with the renaissance of traditional Chinese culture, Buddhism and Buddhist culture will also be yielded gradually. There are many cultural parks themed with Buddhist elements in China nowadays, which is a cultural form promoted by our governments, Buddhist organizations, and enterprises together, and the Lingshan Buddha in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, which the delegation is going to visit is one of them. Mr. Liu Wei also mentioned that Consul-General Cheng Xiyuan from the Chinese Consulate in Mumbai once said that Maharashtra, where the delegation come from, including cities like Mumbai and Nagpur, was the birthplace of India's new Buddhist movement last century. Therefore, we also hope that Buddhist groups and Buddhist leaders in Maharashtra will visit China frequently, strengthen our contacts and exchanges, and promote cultural exchanges between the two countries.

The Vice Chairman Malike, on behalf of the Minister, expressed his heartful gratitude to the Vice President Ven. Master Yanjue, the Secretary-General Mr. Liu Wei, and the BAC for the warm hospitality. Mr. Malik said that India was once a country where Buddhism originated and flourished, but sadly it experienced a decline in historical development and evolution, leaving the most glorious days behind. However, he was very happy to see Buddhism blossoming again in China. He also mentioned that there have been many different ways for Buddhist practicing in China, and they would like to learn and bring them back to India, hope there will be more chances for Buddhist exchanges and discussion among professional monks from the two countries. Mr. Malik said he once played Buddha in a movie, and he learned that happiness was all about helping people to end their misery in the suffering. And in order to provide better education, help people better understand the significance of Buddhism, and spread the comprehensive insights of Buddha's teachings, they made efforts like building education centers, Pali Language Universities, Buddhist Monasteries, and Buddhist themed cultural parks in Nagpur. He wished that we could strengthen our cooperation to promote and spread Dharma, for the sake of Buddhist development in both China and India.

After the meeting, the two sides exchanged gifts, and took a group photo together. Vice President Yanjue and Secretary-General Liu Wei then feted the delegation at Guangji Temple .